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Two-level apartment on the top floor of a building built in 1917. The total area is 212 m2.
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Customers’ wishes: “We have enough activities and problems away from home, at home, we rest. However, apartment design shouldn’t absolutely be dull or boring in a year or so, it must contain come special catchy and “wow” elements we’d admire for a couple of months and then we’d hear “wows” from our guests. At the same time, it should be calm and sweet inside.”
Despite the fact that the apartment has two floors, the second floor originally had no specific function and was an empty open space with the adjacent bedroom and bathroom facilities. On the first floor, there were two bedrooms and a kitchen with a living room. Due to the unfortunate location of the staircase, the link between the areas has been broken, so the work began with the total apartment redevelopment.
Now the first floor has a common area with living room, kitchen and dining area and separate rooms for future children’s rooms. Because of the new location of the staircase, the kitchen is not separated from the living room, though visually it is an independent area.
Since the apartment is on the top floor, it has many skylights providing plenty of natural light. By increasing the number and height of the vertical window openings, we made the living space freer and light in spite of the average ceiling height.
Common space on the second floor was divided into the following premises: a primary bedroom with an adjoining dressing room and a spacious shower room, a guest bedroom, a private bathroom, and an office.
There are also several technical rooms: the boiler room with heating and purifying equipment, laundry room with washing machine, dryer and ironing board. The server space with all the equipment for a “smart home” system, that manages all engineering networks in the apartment, was located in the dressing room.
The slide arrangement became a challenge for both us and the builders. Given that the ceiling between the floors is load-bearing, and removal of even a small part of it represented a threat to the safety of the whole building, we were limited in places to accommodate this element. After some long-term experiments and the creation of full-size mock-ups, we found an optimal form and location for the slide, which has become a major “wow”–element of the apartment.
The color scheme is quite mild: warm white, warm light gray, graphite, and an oak tree. Color accents are present in textiles – rich turquoise in upholstered chairs, armchair, and throws textiles.
This is the view from the second level of the house with an indoor balcony looking over the kitchen and has an entrance into the stainless steel slide that winds from the second floor to the main level.
This is the view from the kitchen area. Here you can see the tall white shed ceiling that pairs well with the tall white walls. There is also a tall wall divider between the kitchen area and the living room that the slide avoids.
This is a closer view of the tall wall divider of the kitchen and living room. You can see here that it is adorned with a vertical garden with lush green leaves that has sports of yellow flowers. that bring a certain homey quality to the tall wooden wall.
This view from the tall wall with a vertical garden shows the dining area just around the corner from the small and homey kitchen that has tall white walls with a window above the sink area.
This is a full view of the cozy and homey small kitchen with a large U-shaped peninsula. It has light wooden details to its cabinetry that maximizes the space beneath the stairs. These are all complemented by a lovely gray flooring matching the metal beams of the stairs.
The light gray metal slide runs from the second floor landing onto the spacious and airy living room with a tall white ceiling brightened by the row of glass windows and glass door lining the white wall on the side of the living room.
This is a closer look at the pair of glass windows of the living room with built-in wooden benches for reading nooks. Next to them is the matching glass door that leads to the balcony with wrought iron railings.
This is a closer look at one of the wooden benches of the reading nooks by the windows. It has a lovely wooden shade adorned with tiny burnt details and patterns. Each of these are cushioned by a couple of throw pillows for a comfortable reading experience.
The living room of this cozy home has a double-sided beige sofa with one side facing the white stone pillar of the fireplace while the other side facing the couple of tall windows. This beige sofa works well with the light hardwood flooring topped with a modern lighting on the beige ceiling.
This is the closer look at the landing end of the steel slide that connects to the second floor landing. You can also see here the modern standing lamp at the corner beside the reading nook of the window.
This is the view of the second floor landing from the vantage point of the wooden stairs. You can see here that the wooden steps match the light hardwood flooring of the landing bordered with wooden banisters with thin black railings for safety.
From the second floor landing, you have a clear view of the home office and study area through a large panel of glass. This office has the same beige shed ceiling as the landing.
This is a closer look at the gorgeous spherical glass pendant lights hanging from the tall beige ceiling. This provides a lovely use for the vertical space above the kitchen with a nice background of the tall vertical garden with yellow flowers.
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This is the other side of the glass panel of the second floor landing inside the home office. This small window is fitted with its own small reading nook that has a wooden bench softened by the throw pillows.
The home office has a long built in wooden desk lining the low wall of the beige shed ceiling that matches well with light hardwood flooring. These are brightened by the bright sky lights above.
The primary bedroom has a low shed ceiling that gives it a cozy quality augmented by the skylight above the bed. This bed has a cushioned headboard that stands out against the textured white stone wall behind it. The window beside it has built-in wooden bench for a reading nook with green shades to pair with the bed sheet.
This is the view of the bathroom from the doorway that has modern knobs and locks. The bathroom has a wall of dark gray octagonal tiles with a few in a lighter shade for design.
This bathroom also has a floating wooden vanity with a single bowl sink in the middle topped with a wide wall-mounted mirror accented with lights at the edges.
This other bedroom also has a shed ceiling that has a couple of skylights bringing in an abundance of natural lighting to brighten up the green sheets of the bed that is flanked by two wooden structures with cabinets. These wooden cabinets pair well with the hardwood flooring of the bedroom.
This simple bathroom has a black vanity with contrasting wooden cabinets. It is fitted with a black sink that matches well with the black countertop as well as the black fixtures and faucet that stand out against the light tones of the walls.
The steps of the stairs have a homey light wooden tone to match the light hardwood flooring. These are complemented by the yellow lights of the row of flush-mount lights from the beige ceiling.
This is the mudroom of the house with wooden cabinets built into the beige wall along with wall-mounted hooks for hats and coats. There is also a small round cushioned chair in the corner for when you put on your shoes.
This bedroom has a bathtub inlaid at the far end of the bathroom with light gray tiles that go well with the beige walls and beige flooring. These makes the black fixtures stand out against the light tones of the tiles.
This is a closer look at the vanity beside the bathtub that has a white pedestal sink flanked by floating wooden shelves to serve as vanity topped with playful mirrors on the wall.
This bathroom has its heater on the wall opposite the vanity. The wall above the bathtub is adorned with a vertical garden mounted on a wooden panel on the wall.
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This is a close-up view of the plants placed on the vertical garden above the bathtub. The leaves give the plain wooden panel a dynamic look.
This is a close-up view of the built-in wooden bench of the reading nooks with its carvings and patterns.
This is closer look at the reading area of the bedroom that has a green cushioned chair paired with a foot stool and brightened by the warm yellow lights of the standing lamp beside it.
This is a closer look at the fireplace across from the bed. It is housed in a large white brick wall that pairs well with the light hardwood flooring. It also has a space beside it for storage of fire wood.
Here you are given a glimpse of the kitchen, dining room and living room in the background of the slide that connects the second floor landing and the living room.
This large bedroom has a comfortable bed facing a large textured white brick wall that houses the fireplace. Beside that is the TV and on the far end is the reading area.
This is the walk-in closet with wonderful mirrored walls and white modern cabinetry lining the walls. These are then complemented by a rustic tree stump stool.
This is the floor plan of the main level where you can see the locations of the different areas from the kitchen, to the dining and the living room.
This is the floor plan of the second level where you can see the locations of the bedroom and bathrooms.
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Credits: Architect’s Firm:Ki Design Contact e-mail: kateryna@kidesign.com.ua, : office@kidesign.com.ua
— Project location: Kharkiv, Ukraine Completion Year: 2016 Gross Built Area (square meters or square foot): 212 sq.m.
Lead Architects: Kateryna Goriaieva Other participants: Anatolia Baranova – project manager, Oleksandr Maliy – architect Photo credits:Sergey Savchenko
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Jon Dykstra
Jon practiced law before launching his online publishing career, bringing analytical rigor to everything he builds. Home Stratosphere combines that precision with a lifelong obsession with residential design — architecture, interiors, landscape, and furniture.
His current focus is AI-driven design analysis, using artificial intelligence to study patterns in color, layout, and material choice across thousands of homes. His Personality Type Home Design Guide applies personality frameworks to interior aesthetics, helping readers design spaces that reflect how they actually think and live.
His favorite piece on the site is the 25 Most Popular Designs, is a daily-updated ranking of the top designs over the last 30 days, driven entirely by visitor activity. The feedback is invaluable for understanding what resonates most with readers. LinkedIn
